Ken has often been on the cutting edge of marine electronics so I expect great things from him.
I have only two thoughts on the subject. 1. Every time energy is changed (as in an alternator or motor), controlled, or transported there are losses. From the fire in the engine to the propeller, a standard engine/transmission/shaft/prop is likely to have the least losses. You can always put a big alternator on a PTO on the forward end of the engine. As for air conditioning. I have AC on board Bandersnatch but need to run the genset to operate it. We rarely operate it, and when we do it has been in heat mode for just a few minutes to take the morning chill off our quarters . As for running the genset at a more efficient load level than the direct drive engine, I don't see why. Either engine has only one load/rpm state where it is most efficient, so I really don't see the advantage of the genset over the direct drive in this regard since either way they would both have similar and but unique to each load/rpm conditions to meet. True, you can adjust both the load and the rpm on the DC genset but you can also do the same with a controllable pitch prop on a direct drive engine without the electrical losses in the diesel/electric system. But any boat can be set up with the proper propeller to allow the engine to run at its most efficient rpm/load at cruising speed. You could not power sand the boat in a yard because you cannot run the water cooled engine while on the hill. Of course you could rig a radiator with a fan, or perhaps pump water from a nearby river or connect the yard's water hose when the yard boss was not around. When attempting to back off a mud bank you will want all the power in a air craft carrier, trust me on this. A battery powered electric motor would be my last choice. A wind genny of a size to put on a boat will not make enough electricity to propel the boat. In fact, I imagine that the force of the wind on the wind genny would be more than the energy in the electricity it produced so you would have a net loss when going up wind. You would be better off putting up more canvas. Putting electricity in and taking it out of batteries is not efficient. Typically losses in the 10 to 20 percent area depending on load. Amp hours also decrease with heavy loads, thence the Puckert factor. It is practical to generate electricity using a spinning propeller while under sail. I have read articles in magazines covering the subject. It works best with a controllable pitch propeller. I have the hardware to do it at anchor in the rare strong enough current but have not found the round-tuit to finish that project. 2. Imagine dumping a bucket of seawater over your new invention. At sea, eventually every place that can get salty will get salty. All that being said, there is an electric cruising boat for sale today, the Island Pilot DSe Hybrid at www.dsehybrid.com Norm S/V Bandersnatch Lying Julington Creek 30 07.695N 081 38.484W > > I have given this a lot of thought and research, > and have come to the conclusion that the best > approach for a small cruising sailboat would look > like this; _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
